Indigenous Leaders Face Criminal Charges for Setting up Anti-Mining Barricades in the Philippines

This story written by Mong Palatino originally appeared on Global Voices on August 25, 2026.

More than 30 cases have been filed against Indigenous Peoples leaders, environmentalists, and lawyers for establishing anti-mining barricades in Nueva Vizcaya, a province in the northern part of Luzon, the Philippines’ biggest island.

Nueva Vizcaya is a mountainous province known for its vegetable produce and mineral resources. The surge in mineral exploration has led to the displacement of rural villagers and Indigenous Peoples, which spurred communities to resist by installing barricades to disrupt the operations of extractive companies.

The grassroots organizers rallied public support and succeeded in pressuring officials to suspend Woggle Corporation’s mining permit. Another barricade set up on May 19 targeted the area of the North Luzon Minerals Resources Corporation, which was initially given the right to explore 4,456 hectares in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya.

Indigenous Peoples leaders and residents insist they were not properly consulted about the mining activities in their ancestral lands. They also expressed strong opposition regarding the destructive impact of the mineral exploration permits granted by government agencies.

In response, mining firms and some local officials filed cyberlibel and trespassing cases against the leaders of the groups that installed the community barricades. The most recent case, which led to an arrest on August 19, involved the filing of grave coercion and disobedience cases against local protesters.

Aside from barricading the entry to mining sites, activists and Indigenous Peoples also trooped to the capital Manila to petition the cancellation of permits granted to mining companies. Zesirie Enggo, 26, from the Bugkalot tribe and convenor of Kasibu Inter-Tribal Response towards Ecological Development, was among the delegation who submitted a letter to a government agency and spoke at a public forum about the impact of mining on their community.

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The Alyansa ng Novo Vizcayano para sa Kalikasan, a coalition of green groups in the province, issued a statement denouncing the harassment cases filed against local residents.

It added that the so-called “green transition” ignores the welfare of Indigenous Peoples and rural communities.

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Various groups outside the province have released public statements supporting the local campaign against large-scale mining.

The Center for Environmental Concerns condemned “the longstanding pattern of deliberate attempts from the collusion of state and private actors to stamp out local dissent.” The organization Yes to Life No to Mining asserted the right of Indigenous Peoples and farming communities “to determine what happens to their land, especially as mining interferes with local land uses and visions for livelihood.”

Finally, Katribu acknowledged the role of collective action in pushing back against destructive projects.

Despite the legal threats, the barricades are still actively being defended by Indigenous Peoples and other stakeholders in the community. The police have been deployed in the area, which prompted residents to decry the militarization of their community. The situation in Nueva Vizcaya reflects the tension in numerous towns across the country as Indigenous Peoples and local residents reject the entry of big mining companies.

[VP]

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